By Geneva Anderson (March 22, 2026)
Famous for its food, wine, parties, and laid-back vibe as well as exceptional films, the 29th Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF), begins Wednesday, March 25th, at venues all round Sonoma’s historic town square. This year’s five-day lineup presents 104 films from 37 countries —41 narrative features, 16 documentary features and 47 shorts. Vivian Sorenson and Jonathan Nastasi’s important documentary, “Fork in the Road,” about America’s broken food system, celebrates its world premiere at SIFF in a culinary line-up that includes three powerful docs, a feminist dramedy and two food shorts.
Opening Night is at the Sebastiani Theatre and Vets #1, with the California premiere of “Euphoria” actor Maude Apatow’s debut comedy “Poetic License.” Other Big Nights include “An Evening with Julian Schnabel” on Thursday, March 26, screening his new drama, “In the Hand of Dante” and featuring Schnabel in an extended conversation with Eugene Hernandez, Sundance Film Festival Director. Steven Soderbergh’s chamber comedy about the art world, “The Christophers,” starring Ian McKellan and Michaela Coel is the Centerpiece, screening Friday. Sunday’s closing night film is Santa Rosa native Miles Levin’s feature debut, “Under the Lights,” shot entirely in Sonoma County with a story that follows a teen with epilepsy who risks a seizure to attend prom. Most of these Big Nights are followed by wonderful SIFF parties at famed local attractions including the beautiful Sebastiani Vineyard & Winery, The Buena Vista Winery and HopMonk Tavern and feature premium wines, beers, local seasonal bites and live music.
“Following last year’s record-setting edition, we’re raising the bar again with a lineup that reflects the full spectrum of contemporary cinema—from internationally celebrated auteurs to bold genre voices,” said Carl Spence, SIFF’s Artistic Director. “Our emphasis on food is so central to our festival because it reflects the bounty of this area we’re so lucky to be in. We keep trying to change and improve our food events, so they are exciting and surprising for our attendees.”
Culinary Magic:
The Moon & The Stars Dinner, Valley Bar + Bottle, Thursday March 26, 7 p.m.
SIFF’s standout event is always its dinner. This year The Moon & The Stars Dinner is at Valley on Sonoma’s town square, and it’s an elevated dining experience, focusing on four very fine Moon Mountain AVA wines from Repris, B. Wise, Kamen, and Far Mountain served with a multicourse pairing menu featuring locally-sourced seasonal ingredients. This special meal is a collaboration between Valley’s culinary team, helmed by co-owners Emma Lipp and Stephanie Reagor, with culinary manager Zane Molgaard, and wine pairing expertise from co-owners Lauren Feldmen and Tanner Walle. The courses are bold, flavorful and exciting, a perfect foil for these magnificent Moon Mountain wines with their power, fruit, minerality, and elegance. The winemakers and winery owners will all be in attendance to introduce themselves and their wines.
Valley’s Stephanie Reagor, Tanner Walle, Emma Lipp, and Lauren Feldman. Photo by Sarah Davis
First course with Eric Bradley, Repris
Spring greens and herbs with favas and fresh cheese
Repris Melange Blanc, Moon Mountain District ‘2023
Second course with Colin Heinrich, B. Wise
Beef Carpaccio with herb aioli, fermented green garlic and flower
Wise Estate Grown Petite Sirah, Moon Mountain District ‘2022
Main course with Rodrigo Soto and Robert Kamen
Plancha Chicken with black garlic mole
Charred carrots with feta
Far Mountain Fission Cabernet Sauvignon, Moon Mountain District ‘2021
Kamen Cabernet Sauvignon, Moon Mountain District ‘2022
Dessert
Valley Olive Oil Cake with sour cream and preserves
SPECIAL NOTES from chef Laura Feldman:
– We get amazing green garlic from River Farms in Capay Valley and we ferment it ourselves.
– The beef and the chicken are from Sonoma County’s Silver Sky Ranch.
– The black garlic mole includes a housemade blend of SF-based Dandelion Chocolate and Napa Wild’s fermented black garlic.
– Our Olive Oil Cake is a house specialty and has been on our menu since we opened in 2020. We make it with our own house oil, from olives grown up the road in Glen Ellen by our friend, regenerative farmer David Rothschild. We’ll offer coffee and get our beans from Linea Roasters, SF.
The way to fully savor SIFF’s culinary offerings is to buy a festival pass as most of the culinary events and perks are complimentary for Gold passholders and above: grazing at the VIP Maysonnave House Lounge; SIFF Pop-ins; SIFF Parties; and Moon & Stars Dinner (comped for Platinum & above. Individual tickets can be purchased to the Moon & Stars dinner ($350) and to SIFF parties ($75) except Opening Night Party.
SIFF Pop-Ins: A huge hit last year; this year SIFF is hosting three afternoon “Pop-Ins” from 3 to 5 p.m. at local venues featuring complimentary pours of wine and delectable small bites to enjoy while talking film. (Gold Passholders and above): Thurs (3/26): Pop-In: The Bar at MacArthur Place; Fri (3/27): Pop-In: Williams Sonoma; Sat (3/28): Pop-In: Sonoma Cheese Factory.
The Maysonnave House VIP Lounge is the festival’s unofficial hub, just off the square on 1st Street East. (Daily Schedule). This year it will be open every day starting at 10:30 a.m. with coffee, tea, bagels, pastries, kambucha, and will offer more elevated experiences. From noon onwards, there will be either wine tasting or a Bloody Mary Bar, followed by a meet/greet/sip with local wineries with featured music as well as wine or bubbly, along with a rotating selection of charcuterie, crudité, and other items, including Moon Valley Cannabis. (for Gold Passholders and above).
SIFF’s Culinary Film Line-up:
“Fork in the Road”, World Premiere, Sat/March 28, 3 p.m. /Andrews Hall: one screening only
Fed up with the lack of financial assistance available for Black farmers, Karen Washington worked with Olivia Watkins to start the Black Farmer Fund which supports efforts to reclaim Black agricultural heritage. Photo courtesy of “Fork in the Road.”
Both a call to action and a story of hope, this inspiring film from Vivan Sorensen, Jonathan Nastasi, and Lisa Holmes chronicles a new generation of American farmers who once faced a fork in the road and decided to fight to survive. They were impacted by a broken food system dominated by industrial agriculture and its harmful practices which are steadily ruining our planet and our health. Using regenerative agricultural practices and collaborating with local food alliances and microfinancing initiatives, these farmers have become problem solvers at the intersection of sustainable farming, climate change, and food justice.
Dune Lankard, an Eyak Athabaskan Native of the Eagle Clan, and founder of the Native Conservancy, grew up in a fishing family in Cordova, Alaska. A series of natural and manmade disasters led him to advocate for a restorative kelp and mariculture solution for Alaska to preserve his people’s unique subsistence way of life. Photo courtesy of “Fork in the Road.”
It’s a complex topic. The film smartly presents several stories of farmers scattered across the U.S., intimate snapshots of disruption, loss, and hope with set-backs to navigate. A few of the farmers include: organic vegetable farmer Maria Ana Reyes from Salinas, CA, who gets microfinancing from Kitchen Table Advisors: Urban farmer turned food activist Karen Washington, in the Bronx, NY, who co-created the Black Farmer Fund; and Dune Lankard, an Eyak Athabaskan Native of the Eagle Clan, who grew up fishing in Cordova Alaska and founded the Native Conservancy after the Exxon Valdez oil spill blighted his lands and wreaked havoc on fisheries. Sorenson, who comes from a television, film and theatre background, and Nastasi from cinematography, humanize it further with personal and sweeping visuals of farm and family life, lifestyles that have long defined America, pitted against the devastation wrought by big ag, climate events, and oil spills. Providing perspective along the way are: comedian and actor Nick Offerman; Mary Smith Berry, daughter of Wendell Berry and founder of the Berry Center which supports equitable farming futures; food writer Melissa Clark, Marc Murphy, and others. (2026 | 89 min | USA) To support dynamic conversation around the topics raised in this doc, there’s a SIFF panel on Saturday, Food, Film & the Future: Storytelling Through Sustainability, moderated by writer Ethan Alter with directors Nastasi and Sorenson and film participants Chef Mark Murphy and activist Dune Lankard. (SVMA, 1PM). Official film website.
“Hello Betty” Wed/March 25/Vets #2/10:30 AM and Thurs/March 26/Sebastiani/ 1:30 PM
Courtesy of Picture Tree International
This Swiss dramedy, set in 1956, with a “Mad Men” vibe tells the true story of Emmi Creola-Maag (the magnificent Sarah Spale), a talented but underutilized copywriter who struggles to be heard in a male-dominated workplace. She invents “Betti Bossi”—a fictional housewife created to sell recipes—who unexpectedly becomes a culinary icon, reshaping Swiss domestic culture. The story explores Emmi’s struggles to balance her rising professional success and celebrity with her private life as a mother and wife. (2025 | 110 min | Switzerland) Film website.
“The Big Cheese” Wed/March 25/Andrews/ 4:30 PM and Thurs/March 26/ Vets #1/ 2 PM
Director Sara Joe Wolansky
This fast-paced documentary follows several scrappy American cheesemongers as they compete in France’s renowned Mondial du Fromage, the biennial competition for “World’s Best Cheesemonger,” where an American has never claimed the top honor. In addition to the personal quirks and background stories of the bold personalities comprising Team USA; the doc reveals the rigorous training that goes into this high-stakes competition where contestants perform blind tastings, technical cutting, and create artistic cheese displays. Beyond medals and prize money, a win would give American fromagers the credibility they so desperately need at home and abroad. (2025 | 86 min | USA) Director Sara Joe Wolansky and producer James A. Smith will participate in a post-screening Q&A.
“Raoul’s, A New York Story” Fri/March 27/Andrews/ 6 pm and Sat/March 28/Vets #2/ 10:30 am
Courtesy of Raoul’s Restaurant Corp.
Food, family, fate, and filmmaking all come together in this heartwarming gorgeously shot feature documentary about Raoul’s, the most iconic French Bistro in New York City. From its modest beginnings in 1975, when brothers Serge and Guy Raoul opened an unassuming French bistro in Soho, “Raoul’s” traces the remarkable rise of a downtown institution that became a magnet for artists, foodies, and free spirits, influencing the global cooking scene. Told through the eyes of filmmaker Karim Raoul, the son of the restaurant’s founder, the film features celebrated chef Thomas Keller, who launched his career in Raoul’s kitchen, alongside longtime patron Matthew Broderick and other notable regulars, including Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Andrew Zimmern, Kate Spade, Tom Colicchio, Jaques Pépin, André Soltner who appear on the film. (2025 | 99 min | USA) Directors Greg Olliver and Karim Raoul are scheduled to be in attendance. Official website.
CULINARY SHORTS:
Under programmer Oscar Arce, SIFF has reframed its shorts programming this year, as a shorts festival within the larger festival. “Opening Night Shorts” kicks off Thursday at 7 p.m. with 8 shorts and moves into Friday and Saturday with five additional shorts programs, all at Sonoma Valley Women’s Club, at 7 p.m.. Full line-up for Shorts Film Programming
“Paradise Buffet” Thurs/March 26/SV Women’s Club/7 PM (Part of Opening Night Shorts, 8 films, 90 min)
Spanish directors Héctor Zafra and Santi Amézqueta have crafted an 8 minute multiple award-winning animated story set in a buffet restaurant, where a number of the diners consume a wide variety of exquisite delicacies without being aware of the serious sin that gluttony represents. (2024 | 8 min | Spain, France) no dialogue. Website.
“PB&P” Fri/March 27/SV Women’s Club/3 PM (Part of Reality Bites Doc Shorts, 6 films, 105 min)
Dwight Garner makes his favorite sandwich
New York Times Book critic and writer Dwight Garner shares his unconventional sandwich recipe for peanut butter and… pickles?! Garner reveals why you shouldn’t knock it ’til you try it! (2025 | 6 min | USA) Filmmaker’s website. A film festival programmer makes one and offers her reaction.
Read Garner’s essay in the New York Times.
There are. so many more intriguing movies to explore. Checkout the Sonoma International Film Festival’s Film Guide and day-by-day Film Schedule.
Non Culinary movies mentioned above.
Unofficial Website
Director Julian Schnabel discusses his process making art.
Interviews about the original short film at Tribeca.
Geneva Anderson is a free-lance writer based in rural Penngrove, CA who writes on art, film, food, identity, and cultural heritage. She is the editor of ARThound, an online arts publication. She grew up on a small farm in Petaluma, CA, with animals and gardens. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Princeton, and Columbia School of Journalism, she covered the transition of Eastern Europe from state socialism and reported for seven years from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Turkey. She has also worked on assignment in Asia, Cuba, Mexico, South America.
She has written or done photography for Art, Arte, ARTnews, The Art Newspaper, Balkan, Balkan News, Budapest Sun, EatDrinkFilms, Flash Art, Neue Bildende Kunst, Sculpture, EIU, Euromoney, The International Economy, The Press Democrat, The Argus Courier,Vanity Fair, Global Finance, and others. She is passionate about Rhodesian Ridgebacks and currently has two, Frida and Ruby Rose.